MiamiOxford wrote:Good to be here finally. See you all in Philly... And R6, what is the housing like outside of campus, and what is the school's status on having a job during law school?

Housing - plenty depends on your budget. Plan to go visit some neighborhoods when you come visit during ASW and check them out. The best place is right across the street if you can put up the rent. If you can walk/bike/train like 10 minutes you can find good bargains.

Job: you are allowed, but strongly discouraged. I was planning on working, but I am glad it didn't work out. 1L is hard work, and you should really be devoting all your time to it. The hardest part about 1L is all the reading that will literally take you 3-4 hours a day to get through if you actually want to read everything instead of cutting corners.

I know people have worked as a resident assistant at the UG dorm and got to stay there fore free. You may consider that.

MiamiOxford wrote:Good to be here finally. See you all in Philly... And R6, what is the housing like outside of campus, and what is the school's status on having a job during law school?

Housing - plenty depends on your budget. Plan to go visit some neighborhoods when you come visit during ASW and check them out. The best place is right across the street if you can put up the rent. If you can walk/bike/train like 10 minutes you can find good bargains.

Job: you are allowed, but strongly discouraged. I was planning on working, but I am glad it didn't work out. 1L is hard work, and you should really be devoting all your time to it. The hardest part about 1L is all the reading that will literally take you 3-4 hours a day to get through if you actually want to read everything instead of cutting corners.

I know people have worked as a resident assistant at the UG dorm and got to stay there fore free. You may consider that.

Thanks for the tips! In your opinion, do you think it's worth looking into graduate housing or are apts around the school (radius of a block or two away) much cheaper?

4julye wrote:Thanks for the tips! In your opinion, do you think it's worth looking into graduate housing or are apts around the school (radius of a block or two away) much cheaper?

Anything really close is super expensive. In that sense, if you want to be close graduate student housing may be best. But graduate student housing isn't the best from what I hear. I commute, so maybe other students are better at answering these questions.

There was a panel at ASW, so you guys can definitely get some answer then.

Do be careful with cheap off-campus housing. Sometimes they are ok places to live but not very suitable places for a law student (due to noise, neighbors, etc.)

Different neighborhoods provide different things, and each has their own pros and cons:

Immediately in the vicinity of school can get really expensive (Domus is right across the street and it is $$$$). The further you get away from school, though, the less expensive it is. Keep in mind, the general rule about West Philly (incl. University City) is that the safer neighborhoods go in a southwesterly direction as you move away from campus.

Powelton Village (north of Market in the low-to-mid 30s) can be nice and relatively inexpensive, but it's also where a lot of Drexel undergrads live (and where their fraternity houses are).

A lot of students who live downtown live right across the Schuylkill River in western Center City, in an area roughly bounded by Market St. to the north, 16th St. to the east, South St. to the south, and the river on the west. There's a range of options and prices (walkups, doorman buildings).

Another contingent lives further east in Old City/Northern Liberties and take the subway to get to and from campus, which has several stops at Market & 11th/8th/5th/2nd Streets. The closest stop to the law school is at 34th/Chestnut, one block north of school.

I don't know much about people living in Fairmount or Graduate Hospital, though they are options--I'm sure someone else could provide more info about those.

For those of you already in Penn law or know people who are, how are you funding the living expenses/food, etc.? I ask because I have been told numerous time not to work during law school (especially not while at Penn), and I'm wondering how I am going to live lol Do you just take out a bunch of loans? (I'm very debt averse, but being ED I don't see any scholarships coming down the pipe, fwiw).

MiamiOxford wrote:For those of you already in Penn law or know people who are, how are you funding the living expenses/food, etc.? I ask because I have been told numerous time not to work during law school (especially not while at Penn), and I'm wondering how I am going to live lol Do you just take out a bunch of loans? (I'm very debt averse, but being ED I don't see any scholarships coming down the pipe, fwiw).

Your budget allows for room and board. You can borrow up to the limit of your budget, which generally is enough if you don't live lavishly. (expected family contribution can also be borrowed on GradPLUS loans).

MiamiOxford wrote:For those of you already in Penn law or know people who are, how are you funding the living expenses/food, etc.? I ask because I have been told numerous time not to work during law school (especially not while at Penn), and I'm wondering how I am going to live lol Do you just take out a bunch of loans? (I'm very debt averse, but being ED I don't see any scholarships coming down the pipe, fwiw).

Your budget allows for room and board. You can borrow up to the limit of your budget, which generally is enough if you don't live lavishly. (expected family contribution can also be borrowed on GradPLUS loans).

So is that what most people generally do then (take out loans for living, etc. and not work)?

Ok, thanks for the info.. the employment prospects Penn claims makes this seem not so bad. In a PM could anyone tell me how accurate these median 160,000 salaries really are? I get that it depends on a lot (such as biglaw, private v. public, area, etc.), but I'm wondering how the graduate you all might know are fairing in this economy, and how difficult biglaw prospects are from Penn?

I'm hearing plenty of horror stories about Philly in general (being a rough/dangerous place, etc.). Is this just outsider scare, or what?I'm close to Cincinnati, which some consider bad, but like every big city, depends on where exactly you are.

MiamiOxford wrote:I'm hearing plenty of horror stories about Philly in general (being a rough/dangerous place, etc.). Is this just outsider scare, or what?I'm close to Cincinnati, which some consider bad, but like every big city, depends on where exactly you are.

Stay around Penn and Center City. Don't go party around Temple. The rest of city has it's rough spots, but generally around Penn/Center City it's as safe as anywhere in the country.